Where does Zulum get projects’ money from?

Last week, President Muhammadu Buhari was in Maiduguri, a state so recklessly destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgents and illegal activities of some other criminal elements.

Borno has been virtually on its knees for over a decade since Boko Haram insurgents commenced a carnage in the state and beyond. Indeed, the quantum of destruction inflicted on the state by the bloodletting insurgents beggars belief.

Yet Borno, hitherto one of the most accommodating and peaceful states in the country, will emerge from the ruins and become great again! It will do so partly because of the purposeful leadership being offered by the current governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum.

The governor is, apparently, on a mission to demystify political power, lay bare its superficiality while working hard to change the narrative from destruction, dislocation, tears, and blood to joy, resettlement and prosperity for the people and Borno state.

Curiously, the President, like many other people in his entourage and across the length and breadth of Nigeria could not hide their surprise with the level of work being undertaken by the state government, under the leadership of Governor Zulum to rebuild the state its battered infrastructures.

Equally, the president and, indeed, Nigerians could not hide their joy with the quality of works either ongoing or completed by the Zulum-led administration in the state.

Still, even more joyful to the President was the huge number of capital projects spread across the state, 556 in total, delivered by Zulum in just two years in office.

Yes, in just two years, Zulum had accomplished what many other governors, in peaceful, richer and prosperous states could not deliver in eight years of their administration.

Impressed by the projects he was asked by the governor to commission, the President said during his remark at a gathering to mark the end of his visit to Borno state: “I am highly impressed by the very dynamic leadership that His Excellency Governor Babagana Umaru Zulum has been providing in Borno State in the last two years. He is very selfless and has been taking a lot of personal risks to guarantee the safety and welfare of his people.

“I wish that every other person who has responsibility for the people at various levels will emulate Governor Zullum, instead of squandering so much time on unhelpful buck-passing and blame games. I have gone round to commission some of the capital projects executed by the Zulum Administration in two years. I am very happy with what I saw.”

The President singled out a Vocational Training Institute he commissioned at Muna, describing it as “a very dynamic answer to skills acquisition and job creation efforts” with the potentials of drastically reducing youth unemployment in Borno state.

And, we all know what that employment scheme means for the state and its people and how that initiative impacts the activities of Boko Haram. It means that with trained and empowered manpower willing to contribute their quota to the development of the state, recruitment becomes harder for the insurgents.

What’s more, the institute, designed for annual training of 1,500 persons, has 14 workshops for automobile and mechatronics, electrical installation, solar installation, air conditioning and refrigeration, leather works, barbing and cosmetology, plumbing and pipefitting, GSM repairs, welding and fabrication, masonry and building, carpentry and joinery, tie and die, ICT, and tailoring and fashion design.

The institute has six hostels of about 200 rooms, a kitchen and common room, as well as an auditorium, administrative building, and sporting facilities.

Other projects commissioned by the President include Borno State University, in which the Zulum-led administration completed the senate building, constructed two large hostels with 150 rooms for 1,200 students; 34 units of duplexes and bungalows for professors, senior and intermediate staff; seven kilometres of road and drainage network; and undertook landscaping works across the university.

Some crucial infrastructural works were carried out by the administration of the immediate past governor of the state, Mr Kashim Shettima, which established the university.

The President also commissioned two mega-size Government Day Technical Secondary Schools in Njimtilo and Goni Kachallari and a higher Islamic school, near the Shehu’s palace, all of which have 60 air-conditioned classrooms for at least 2,400 students, vocational workshops, laboratories for sciences and ICT, auditoriums and sporting facilities. The governor has built 16 such schools across the state.

Also commissioned were Abbaganaram Maternal Healthcare Centre, which has 50-bed spaces, theatres, diagnostic equipment, blood banks and laboratories. And another replicated in Gwange.

The President also commissioned roads and drainages constructed in Jiddari Polo and the first phase of 10,000 resettlement houses he had approved for Borno state from which 4,000 have been completed.

Of course, in normal climes, what Governor Zulum has achieved can be said to be simply what he was elected to provide. However, ours is not what can be called a normal environment, where things work as they should.

In truth, in this country, these seem like strange times defined by despicable norms. High-wire shenanigans seem like the ‘new normal’ even though they make people shudder in other places.

Administration after administration, state after state and one political leader after another, the story is the same – mind-boggling sleaze makes front-page news, as some of the leaders, emboldened by the absence of consequences for their actions and or inactions, appear hell-bent on delivering the final pinfall to the wobbling states and national economies.

In other climes, leadership inspires confidence through transparency, galvanises people to become better versions of themselves, and puts the interest of the majority above primordial considerations. Governor Zulum, no doubt, fits this type of leadership described.

Interestingly, it is rightly argued that it takes a good leader, who gives priority to the welfare of his people to identify his ilk. It is, therefore with little or no wonder that the President was quick to describe Governor Zulum’s leadership as exemplary, and urged other governors to emulate his style.

But, even more than that, with the example set by Governor Zulum for other governors to copy, it now becomes clear, that despite its humongous problems and challenges, Borno state would rise again, bringing with it a rejuvenation of prosperity, education, arts and culture, industrialisation, trade, commerce, agriculture, and youth employment.

Essentially, with a governor who has earned the confidence and support of the President, it can be said that Borno is definitely on the rise.

Already, the President has directed the Federal Ministry of Health to work with Borno State Government to identify areas through which the government can support the ongoing construction of Borno State University Teaching Hospital with equipment and manpower. This is a state that, in two years, executed 58 capital projects in the area of health that include the establishment of 74 primary healthcare centres, new doctors quarters and overhauled eight hospitals.

Governor Zulum has also delivered 10 capital projects on security, 13 capital projects on agriculture, 15 capital projects on commerce and industry and 28 capital projects on jobs creation, youth empowerment and humanitarian support.

In the area of road, the number is unbelievable. 53 capital projects were executed on reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement which involved the construction of more than 6,000 resettlement houses for IDPs and refugees in 15 towns.

Phenomenal 59 capital projects were delivered in the water and environment sectors, 63 capital projects on governance and another 63 capital projects on transport, rural and urban development.

On education, the sector had seen the highest number of 194 capital projects, combining rehabilitation, completion and fresh construction of Mega-size government technical colleges and primary schools constructed in many communities.

In total, the list of capital projects executed by the Zulum-led administration has in it 556 verifiable projects, in just two years, making the call being made by Nigerians on Governor Zulum to start smelling beyond what his nose can perceive, not only commendable but apt.